Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a baseball batting practice device with a retrievable ball tethered to the bat.
Effective baseball batting practice requires the use of equipment that closely simulates the situation under which actual playing conditions occur. The feel and swing weight of the bat, for example, should be close as possible to the bat used on the playing field. Furthermore, the ball when struck by the bat should fly from the bat in a manner similar to that which would occur in an identical contact between the bat and ball in an actual game situation.
Ideally, the person engaged in batting practice should be able to take a considerable number of batting practice swings at the ball in a short period and observe the reaction of the ball to the contact with the bat. Any shortcomings, as a result of the bat striking the ball in an inappropriate manner, can be quickly corrected if the person engaged in batting practice is able to retrieve the ball in a timely manner and correct his method of striking the ball. Normally, a person engaged in batting practice would strike the ball walk a considerable distance to retrieve the ball, and then strike it again. This does not enable the person engaged in batting practice to hit a large number of balls in a given period of time.
This invention enables a baseball enthusiast to bat a large number of balls in a short space of time without expending a great deal of time and energy walking from where the ball is struck to where the ball lands.
Description of the Prior Art
Sports practice equipment using a tethered ball and a retrieving reel are known in the art. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,526,374; 3,635,475; 3,376,037; 2,944,817; and 2,128,610 disclose a ball tethered to a striking apparatus and a retrieval means. These devices restrain the flight of the ball by use of elastic devices or other friction means. These devices produce a less than satisfactory result since the flight of the ball is reduced by the friction imposed on the tether. The friction imposed on the tether also requires a stronger tether to keep the line from breaking, which further diminishes the ability of the device to replicate the flight of an untethered ball. In each of the above U.S. patents, the flight of the ball from the striking aparatus is at right angles to the direction in which the reel pays out the tether. This further restricts the distance the ball will travel when struck and requires a stronger tether.
The prior art devices alter the swing weight and feel of the striking device by the addition of weight to the striking device with no compensating weight removed to keep the bat or club at its original natural swing weight.